25 May 2016

SAN JUAN – The mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, confirmed she will appear before the United Nations’ Special Committee on Decolonization in June to testify on the island’s territorial status.

The mayor said she intends to call for Puerto Rican people’s “right to self-determination” and that political prisoner Oscar López Rivera be freed. On May 29, he will have spent 35 years in prison, 12 of them in solitary confinement, her statement adds.

Cruz also said she has withdrawn her endorsement of Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton because of her position in favor of the proposed fiscal oversight board the U.S. Congress “intends to impose” on the commonwealth government.

“I’m not a Democrat; I’ll never be a Republican. I have never voted in presidential primaries nor ever will, although I don’t criticize those who consider it a way to contribute,” she said.

“The House Natural Resources Committee reached an agreement on a bipartisan bill to address the Puerto Rican debt crisis. While I have serious concerns about several provisions in this bill, including the creation of an oversight board that would exert substantial control over Puerto Rico, I believe that we must move forward with this legislation. Otherwise, without any means of addressing this crisis, too many Puerto Ricans will continue to suffer.

“However, as this bill moves forward, I will work to ensure that concerns about the oversight board are addressed and any such entity includes members that will act in the best interest of Puerto Ricans – protecting their health, their pensions, and their well-being. We can no longer sit idly by while hedge funds seek to maximize their profits at the island’s expense. That’s why I will continue to stand with the Puerto Ricans to ensure that they can put their economy back on a path of stability and prosperity, including the steps I am committed to take as President to provide equality in critical federal programs.”

We must never give an unelected control board the power to balance Puerto Rico’s budget on the backs of children, senior citizens, the sick and the most vulnerable people in Puerto Rico while giving the people of Puerto Rico absolutely no say at all in the process,”

“We cannot allow Senate Majority Leader McConnell and Speaker Ryan to determine the fate of Puerto Rico by handpicking a majority of the control board’s members, while the people of Puerto Rico would be in charge of choosing none. That may make sense to groups representing Wall Street, but it makes absolutely no sense to me.

“Among other efforts, what Congress should do is to act immediately to give Puerto Rico the same authority granted to every municipality in this country to restructure its debt under the supervision of a bankruptcy court.

“The billionaire hedge fund managers on Wall Street cannot get a 100 percent return on their bonds while workers, senior citizens and children are punished. Wall Street vulture capitalists must not be allowed to get it all.

“Today, I am proud to stand in strong opposition to this bill not only with the people of Puerto Rico, but the AFL-CIO, UAW, SEIU, AFSCME, UFCW and other unions that recognize just how bad this bill would be.

“We must stop treating Puerto Rico like a colony and start treating the American citizens of Puerto Rico with the respect and dignity that they deserve.”